Britz vs Spaceships

The two fleets meet at one end only. Britz runs six models from Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown, from a compact own-built van up to five-berth European motorhomes; Spaceships runs five vans from Auckland and Christchurch: four sleep two and the VW Cosmo sleeps three. Above three there is no decision to weigh, because Spaceships does not go there. For two or three people, the two ranges genuinely compete.

Where they compete, they answer the same rule two different ways. Certification requires the green warrant and a permanently fixed toilet, and Spaceships lists the Beta 2S, Sigma and Cosmo as green-warrant certified and the Beta and the Dream Sleeper Mini as not. Britz lists all six of its models as certified, including the HiTop and Voyager, whose 12-litre hideaway toilet its own descriptions call ‘affixed portable’ and ‘fixed portable’ — loose wording against a rule that bars portable toilets. One company names the models before you book; with the other, the warrant card in the vehicle you are handed is what settles those two. That is money as well as law, because an uncertified van needs a holiday park or a DOC site every night, so weigh these two over the whole itinerary rather than by the night.

The rest of the difference shows up on the map. Britz is the only one of the two that can start or finish in Queenstown, and it charges a flat NZ$270 location fee there even on a same-city pickup and return, with one-way legs between its depots priced by route and season from NZ$100 to NZ$300 for pickups up to 31 March 2027. Spaceships advertises no one-way charge at all, though its two depots sit on different islands, so an Auckland to Christchurch trip still means booking and paying the Cook Strait vehicle fare yourself. Both companies put Skippers, Ball Hut Road and Ninety Mile Beach out of bounds, but only Britz’s excluded-roads list covers Crown Range Road, which is fully sealed and the direct route between Wanaka and Queenstown. Driving it anyway leaves you liable for all damage, so that leg has to take the longer state highway instead.